In and out the doors

Yesterday I spent a pleasant hour or so in the park with my grandsons. The weather was glorious -- not at all cold, for which I was grateful because it meant the boys could run around outside. Before we left, I unlocked our front door, but we actually went out through the garage to collect tricycle and bicycle. On our way home I thought 'maybe we'll go in through the front', but then I thought 'no'.

This reminded me of my mother, and her superstition that visitors should always go out through the same door they came in. I can still hear her saying, "You'd better go out the back way, because that's how you came in." (for example). Now, for the life of me, I can't think how this superstition might have arisen. There has to be some kind of historical or convenient context for it, surely?

Another thing which I think I've mentioned before, is that she always wanted me to cut my nails on a Monday. If I did them before noon, I'd get a present... which, of course, came true when I was little. I can get my head around this, kind of. Monday is Moonday, after all, and we know that our hair and nails grow slower on the waning moon. As a grower of vegetables, I also know that mostly they're better off picked in the morning before the day gets too hot.

But in and out the doors? I'm still puzzling over that one!